Job Description
Strategic Workforce Planning Program Manager
Job Summary
The Strategic Workforce Planning Program Manager supports the launch and ongoing execution of the Strategic Workforce Planning function. This role manages key workstreams related to program planning, tools, resources, training, communications, and cross-functional coordination. Working with HR business partners, Workforce Intelligence, Finance, and local subject matter experts, this role helps define business requirements, support tool and vendor evaluations, coordinate pilots, and drive adoption of workforce planning processes and resources. The role also helps translate workforce insights into clear business implications, decision options, and recommended next steps. This is a highly collaborative role suited for someone who is comfortable building structure in a developing function and translating ambiguity into organized plans, routines, and deliverables.
Key Job Responsibilities
Program & Workstream Management
• Build and maintain integrated project plans, timelines, dependencies, and milestone tracking across Strategic Workforce Planning workstreams.
• Help establish and maintain the operating cadence for the Strategic Workforce Planning function, including recuring planning routines, governance checkpoints, and status updates.
• Manage routine program governance deliverables, including action tracking, decision logs, and concise stakeholder updates.
• Prepare decision materials that summarize options, tradeoffs, risks, dependencies, and recommended next steps.
• Facilitate working sessions, capture decisions, drive follow-ups, and escalate issues as needed.
Tool Planning & Vendor Evaluation Support
• Partner with Workforce Intelligence to support Strategic Workforce Planning tool evaluations, including criteria, scorecards, and demo materials tied to business use cases.
• Coordinate vendor touchpoints, including scheduling, agendas, materials, notes, and comparison summaries.
• Document workforce planning options and tradeoffs, including implementation considerations, risks, dependencies, and time-to-value.
Requirements & Implementation Planning
• Partner with Strategic Workforce Planning Analysts and Workforce Intelligence to define business requirements for dashboards, datasets, and workflow needs.
• Support implementation planning, including scope, resources, roadmap, training inputs, and readiness criteria.
• Coordinate user acceptance testing, capture feedback, and help translate feedback into backlog items and release plans.
Enablement, Training & Communications
• Support adoption and change management activities, including training calendars, office hours, pilot sessions, stakeholder communications, and feedback loops.
• Support partner-facing toolkit materials, such as quick-start guides, FAQs, release notes, and how-to resources.
• Establish feedback loops with HR partners and local subject matter experts to identify recurring issues and practical improvements.
Governance, Quality, and Sustainment
• Support governance routines, including intake, prioritization, change control, publish readiness, and issue triage.
• Track issues related to data refresh, access, or tooling, and coordinate triage and stakeholder communications with Workforce Intelligence.
• Document repeatable standard work and transition operational routines as the function matures.
Job Requirements (Skills & Experience)
• Bachelor's degree in HR, Business, Project Management, Information Systems, Analytics, or related field (or equivalent practical experience).
• 3-5+ years of experience in program development, program management, HR, analytics, learning and development, or a related field.
• Demonstrated program and project management capability (planning, dependency management, meeting facilitation, action tracking, status reporting).
• Experience coordinating cross-functional work involving HR, analytics, technology, and/or finance partners.
• Experience supporting requirements development and implementation planning.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills; ability to produce clear, partner-friendly materials and executive-ready updates.
• Experience preparing concise updates, recommendations, and decision materials for leadership.
• Strong organizational skills, attention to detail, and ability to coordinate across multiple workstreams.
Preferred Qualifications
• Experience supporting dashboards, tools, and data products (requirements, testing, rollout coordination, adoption support).
• Familiarity with HR data and Strategic Workforce Planning concepts (definitions, cadence schedules, data quality principles, access considerations).
• Experience supporting vendor demos and evaluations (criteria development, scorecards, comparison summaries).
• Familiarity with collaboration and program/project management tools (Teams/SharePoint, Planner/Project/Smartsheet, etc.).
Additional Success Factors
• Operates with a high degree of ownership, accountability, and follow-through in a developing function.
• Brings structure, clarity, and momentum to complex, cross-functional work.
• Communicates proactively with stakeholders and helps keep workstreams aligned, organized, and moving forward.
• Demonstrates sound judgment when managing priorities, dependencies, risks, and tradeoffs.
• Continuously improves processes, tools, and routines to support effective Strategic Workforce Planning delivery.
About the Team
Southern Company Services
